This is a stable isotope.
Both radioactive isotopes and radioactive dating rely on the process of radioactive decay. Radioactive isotopes decay at a known rate, allowing scientists to measure the passage of time based on the amount of decay that has occurred. Radioactive dating uses this decay process to determine the age of rocks and fossils.
Copper-64 undergoes radioactive decay because it is an unstable isotope with an excess of neutrons relative to protons. This instability leads to the process of beta decay, where a neutron is transformed into a proton, emitting a beta particle (an electron) and an antineutrino. As a result, copper-64 decays into a stable isotope, zinc-64, ultimately moving towards a more stable nuclear configuration. This decay process is a natural occurrence in isotopes that seek to achieve stability.
All elements above the atomic number of 83 are radioactive, but two elements that are under it are also radioactive. They are technetium (atomic number 43) and promethium (atomic number 61). Radioactive elements are elements that decay until stable. =)
An element with 161 neutrons would have an atomic number of 2, as the total number of nucleons (protons + neutrons) defines the atomic mass. This would make it a highly unstable isotope of helium, specifically helium-163. However, such an isotope does not exist in nature and would only be produced in a laboratory under specific conditions. It would decay rapidly due to its instability.
The atomic number of uranium is 92; all the elements under uranium (under 92) were discovered.
Both radioactive isotopes and radioactive dating rely on the process of radioactive decay. Radioactive isotopes decay at a known rate, allowing scientists to measure the passage of time based on the amount of decay that has occurred. Radioactive dating uses this decay process to determine the age of rocks and fossils.
Copper-64 undergoes radioactive decay because it is an unstable isotope with an excess of neutrons relative to protons. This instability leads to the process of beta decay, where a neutron is transformed into a proton, emitting a beta particle (an electron) and an antineutrino. As a result, copper-64 decays into a stable isotope, zinc-64, ultimately moving towards a more stable nuclear configuration. This decay process is a natural occurrence in isotopes that seek to achieve stability.
The life of an isotope depends on whether it is stable or not. Stable isotopes do not decay and therefore, do not have an lifetime since they do not go away. Unstable isotopes decay at predictable rates. However, each unstable isotope decays at a its own rate. Therefore, the life of an unstable isotope depends on the isotope in question. Some isotopes have extremely short lifetimes (milliseconds) and other have extremely long lifetimes (billions of years).
The most common isotope of Argon, 40Ar, accounts for just under 1% of the Earth's atmosphere. Most of this comes from the radioactive decay of Potassiom-40 in the Earth's crust.
All elements above the atomic number of 83 are radioactive, but two elements that are under it are also radioactive. They are technetium (atomic number 43) and promethium (atomic number 61). Radioactive elements are elements that decay until stable. =)
You can't. If you knew what it started as, or if you "catch it in the act" of emitting an alpha particle, then you can tell, but otherwise every nucleus is pretty much the same as every other nucleus of the same isotope no matter how it got there.
The nucleus contains 18 protons and neutrons. The number of neutrons depends on the isotope of argon. Ar-20, the most common isotope of argon has 22 neutrons.
If the decay is beta plus decay, a proton is converted into a neutron, and the atomic number will go down by one to ninety two. In beta minus decay, a neutron is converted into a proton, and the atomic number will go up by one to ninety four. A link can be found below that will explain how these reactions occur. Either one of these reactions may be possible, depending on which isotope of element 93, which is plutonium, is under observation.
Radioactive decay falls under chemistry, because the chemical properties of the substance are changed during radioactive decay.
The isotope of hydrogen we call tritium is radioactive because all atoms of it have an unstable nucleus. Tritium, which is hydrogen-3, has a single proton in its nucleus (as you'd expect), and has two neutrons there as well. This combination of nucleons is not stable, and it will eventually decay (with a 12.32 year half-life). Said another way, the nuclear arrangement of a proton and two neutrons is not a stable one, so atoms of this isotope of hydrogen will be radioactive and will eventually decay. When any atom is "created" by fusion or other means (including nuclear decay), the nucleons (the protons and neutrons that make up its nucleus) have to "make a deal" as to how they are going to get along in the tiny volume of space that the nucleus occupies. Some arrangements of protons and neutrons just "aren't right" and are unstable, and this gives rise to characterizing the isotope as being radioactive. Tritium (H-3) is one such isotope.
An element with 161 neutrons would have an atomic number of 2, as the total number of nucleons (protons + neutrons) defines the atomic mass. This would make it a highly unstable isotope of helium, specifically helium-163. However, such an isotope does not exist in nature and would only be produced in a laboratory under specific conditions. It would decay rapidly due to its instability.
The process of radioactive decay actually falls under the study of nuclear chemistry rather than physics or a combination of the two.